Most species in the lily family originate in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, although they later spread to subtropical regions. Many other species also have the name lily, but it has nothing to do with the pure lily, people call it “false lily” (can be understood as fake lily).

In this article, I only mention the ‘true lily’ species , other species are called lily, but in fact it has nothing to do with this species, and that I will introduce to you in the following articles. Other articles.

In its native region , that is, in the temperate zone, the lily is a perennial plant, the flower bulbs are planted from autumn, sleeping underground in the cold winter full of ice and snow, until the first rays of sunlight. When the snow and ice melt, the lily bulbs in the ground wake up and germinate, and the first flowers will bloom in late spring and early summer.

After flowering, the gardener will cut off the flower branches, leaving only half of the stem to use for photosynthetic leaves to nourish the underground bulbs, then again in a cycle, after the leaves fall, the branches dry, and the bulbs dry. Sleeping on the ground all winter, spring sprouts again, flowers bloom again…

But when the lily traveled around the world, to other lands, she was no longer so easy-going. The reason is not big, it’s just that she is not suitable for the climate of those places. Even though it’s not very suitable, it’s just that it’s no longer a perennial flower like in my hometown, and it can still be grown very easily!

Lily is very worthy of love, and in fact she is very loved because of her beauty and scent. Thanks to that, he is present almost anywhere in the world. We can learn a little about her! In this article, I will call her by two names: lily and ly, although they are two, they are one.

There is a legend about this flower, that Zeus, lord of Olympia, wanted his son Hercules to drink the milk of the goddess Hera, his wife. But because Hercules was the child of another woman (a mortal), of course Hera did not agree. Not giving up, Zeus secretly fed Hercules Hera’s milk while she was sleeping. When the goddess Hera suddenly woke up and realized that, she pushed away, and the drops of milk that fell on the ground grew a beautiful flower, the lily.

That is why today, although lily has many meanings and symbols, the meaning most associated with this flower is rebirth and prosperity . In addition, lily has many other meanings, one of which is symbolizing innocence and purity.

I say lily has many meanings , because for each flower color, this flower has a different meaning.

Lily is beautiful, has a passionate scent, lily symbolizes many meanings, lily is very rich in color and shape, is a very loved flower, and of course she makes us feel beautiful. a desire to possess.

And it’s good, in Vietnam it is possible to grow this type of flower, not only can it be grown, but it can also be grown beautifully. It’s just a shame that in Vietnam, she can’t simply become a perennial flower. But that’s okay, nowadays lilies are so popular in Vietnam that we can simply plant a pot, a bed, even a garden, a field of lilies, depending on what our purpose is.

Tet cup garden

Many years ago, in Northern Vietnam, farmers grew this flower into a commercial flower in the fall and winter, making it possible for many people to enjoy this flower (previously the flower was only grown in Vietnam). Da Lat, so the price is quite expensive).

In recent years, lilies can also be grown in the South, satisfying the needs of many flower lovers, although it is a bit more difficult than in the North with cool climates in winter. , but growing a lily tree has made them feel extremely happy. That seems to be the feeling of a successful conqueror.

A lily flower garden in Da Lat

Also in the last 10 years, lily has become a familiar flower in Vietnam. Every time Tet comes , nearly half of families arrange flowers on the table or buy a pot of lilies for the house, instead of the traditional kumquats and peaches.

Northern Tet flower market

Recently, many people have learned to grow lilies from bulbs, to have their own flower pots. This self-grown flower pot has many advantages, such as staying fresh longer, being more beautiful, and being able to keep the bulbs until next season (this is bad luck).

There have been many articles on how to grow lilies commercially, so I will not write about that issue anymore, just instructions on how to grow lilies in pots or small clay tubs, with our meticulous care. so that each of us can grow lily pots of our choice, whether you live in the countryside or in the city, have a garden or terrace, or just have a small balcony to satisfy your passion for growing. only me.

As I said above, growing lilies abroad is extremely easy, simply cover the bulbs in the ground, water and fertilize, then… wait, and when the season comes, the flowers will grow on their own. In our country, things to note are not just that. That’s why guidance is needed. And to grow a certain plant well, we should understand it thoroughly before planting, and great results will come to you.

How to grow lilies in pots

Depending on the type of lily (tall, dwarf, fragrant, double…) the growth and flowering time is quite different. The time is different but the care is quite similar. We often grow dwarf lilies in pots (usually dwarf flowers are often grown in pots, tall ones are often grown for landscaping or cut branches) and tall lilies are often grown for cuttings, but in our case, tall lilies are still planted. grown in combination to make cut flowers and potted flowers for Tet.

Dwarf vases

Choosing a pot: I plant in a plastic pot so that it’s convenient to carry it back and forth to make it less heavy (because I often have to change the location of the pot depending on the time and weather. For large tubers (size 18-20 or more), I choose a pot. Use a pot with a diameter of 35cm. For smaller bulbs (about 16 cm in diameter), I use a pot with a diameter of 25-30cm. In each pot, I plant 5 bulbs. Because lilies cannot tolerate waterlogging, we need to choose a pot with drainage holes. If you’re more careful, line the bottom of the pot with a layer of charcoal, or coal slag, or large, light gravel.

Mix the soil: lilies and flowers grown from bulbs in general like loose, easy-draining soil. Therefore, we should mix the substrate very loose, very porous, and nutritious enough. Personally, the growing medium for lychees (and most other tubers) is only 1/5 soil, the rest is manure (1/5) and smoked rice husks, coconut fiber, and honeycomb charcoal slag (soaked). water), these three types can compensate for each other in case of deficiency of one of the three. However, you should have either smoked rice husks or coal slag, because these two types help with good drainage and make the soil loose. If there is only coconut fiber, the soil is easily clogged and difficult to drain. If you don’t have these types available, you can buy pre-mixed soils to grow lilies (remember, pre-mixed soils, not pre-packaged industrial soils like tribat).

Planting lily bulbs: When planting lilies, we place a layer of charcoal (or charcoal) at the end of the pot to help the pot drain. Fill half the pot with soil, then place the tubers evenly spaced. Next, cover the tubers with soil, but leave the tuber sprouts facing up, and do not cover all the soil over the tuber sprouts. To make sure the tree doesn’t fall, we wait until the sprouts grow high and cover it with soil. Furthermore, fragrant tall glass varieties also produce a lot of roots above the tubers after planting, so we should choose to plant them in deep pots, leaving some space when planting so that we can later fill in the roots with more soil, helping to Ly trees can grow better

In our country, lychee varieties are mostly imported from the Netherlands and have been pre-sprouted. And our job is just to plant it and wait for it to grow and bloom. That’s why I say growing lilies is very easy.

Light: in cold countries, lilies like to bask in the sun, the more the better, because sunlight helps the plant become hard, strong and branches grow straight. But in Vietnam, on days when the sun is too bright and the temperature is too high, we should put the tree in a shady place with plenty of light (or shade the tree with a black net). If left in the shade, the flower branches will tend to stretch out to seek light, and the branches are quite high so they can easily fall. In Northern Vietnam, lilies should be planted in a place with a plastic roof, because in winter there is a lot of frost. If there is frost, the buds of the lilies are easily damaged and diseased.

Note that in the South  we can still grow lilies, but because lilies cannot withstand the hot sun, we need to pay attention to shading the plants, and still make sure the plants have enough light. Although it can be grown, you should also accept that lilies are unlikely to be as beautiful in places with cool climates. In hot countries, it is quite difficult for plants to receive sunlight for photosynthesis, so you should add fertilizer and water regularly!

Water and fertilizer: Although it cannot tolerate waterlogging, lily also does not like drought, so we need to water it every day (if not watered enough, the lily will be stunted, small and have damaged buds. Therefore We need to always ensure moderate humidity of the growing medium.

As for lily’s food: they also need a high amount of nutrients for the plant to be strong and have beautiful shiny leaves. We can dilute NPK, Potassium, Calcium… fertilizers to water plants during the growing period. Remember to dilute it, don’t let it be too thick and it will hurt the plant

Care after blooming: When we finish playing with the flowers, we cut the lily branches to half the base, and then wait for the branches and leaves to wither and fall, then dig up the tubers and store them in the refrigerator to stimulate germination.

In foreign countries, people really just plant them there and the next year they will bloom. But in our country (whether in the South or the North), lilies will sleep in the summer, and when the weather is cool, they may sprout to flower. However, if you want to follow the correct process, when fall comes, you must dig up the tubers to let them germinate in the refrigerator, and then plant them outside as instructed. This part is really quite complicated and laborious, so I usually don’t do it, because even if I do it, I can’t be sure like when people do the flower growing industry in the Netherlands, so even though the flower bulbs are kept and If it blooms next season, I believe the flowers will not be as beautiful as the bulbs we bought before.

I myself have planted lilies, and my lily bulbs were also able to germinate and bloom next season thanks to luck, but I really do not recommend this method, because it is very tiring. Especially if you live in cramped places like apartments and dormitories.

I have summarized how to care for and preserve the bulbs as well as stimulate the sprouts of the lychee bulbs (in theory – because I don’t do it, I just throw it there and it will flower :)). Although it’s just a theory, this theory is completely well-founded, because I have researched many of the characteristics of lilies in nature and its development.

+ Cut the branches after the flowers fade, leaving a few layers of leaves for photosynthesis to help the plant grow the bulbs. Don’t cut too close to the root!

+ Water to keep the soil moderately moist, do not leave it waterlogged because if it is too waterlogged, the weather and climate of Vietnam will cause the tubers to rot.

+ When the remaining leaves and branches of the plant wither, we dig up the tuber, cut off the roots, leaving only a few strong roots (because the root system of a lily plant is very large), clean the tuber thoroughly to remove all soil. dirty sand, put it in a box or bag, cover it with a layer of mulch (like the kind that when we receive the tubers is covered in that bag, or if we don’t have it, we can temporarily use coconut mulch), stuff it in the refrigerator and let it dry. germination. When you see sprouts, plant them, or when you like them, plant them.

In the past, I still thought that only in the North could lilies be grown, but in recent years, after my lilies bloomed in September, it meant that during their growth period, they were completely It’s hot, so I believed that lily could be grown in the South, although it was more difficult than in the North. Therefore, I have given basic instructions and characteristics for you in the South to grow. And to my surprise, my friends have grown wonderful pots of lilies.

– When watering, we must not let water get on the tip of the lily, especially during the bud formation period. Standing water in flower buds can easily cause fungus if the weather is warm. Therefore, in the South, you must avoid getting water on the top of the lychee buds. Only when the bud has grown and separated should we let her shower in the rain. In addition, as I also said above, when the temperature is too high, we should not let direct sunlight shine on the lily plant because it can easily burn the leaves and even shrink the buds.

– Fragrant lilies in the early stages of planting are susceptible to fungus if our growing medium is not carefully treated. But once the buds have formed and separated, the plant is quite strong and disease resistant. Our job at that time is to provide nutrients for the plants so that the leaves are green, the plants are taller and stronger, and the flowers are bigger. If we are in the North, during this period we can completely let the plants bask in the sun and rain.

– Particularly for dwarf cups, in the South, you should especially not expose them to the sun, because if dwarf cups are grown in the sun, they will easily damage the buds and dwarf the plants. Natural sunlight is a valuable source of vitamin D for not only humans and animals, but is also extremely important for plants, but because lilies cannot withstand heat, we have to use other ways to provide it. nutrition for plants. So I say, although it is more difficult to grow lychees in the South than in the North, it is not impossible. You just need to pay attention to providing the cup with good nutrition. When growing lilies in the South, we should only expose them to the sun (if any) before 9am.

As I said, in temperate regions, lilies love sunlight, and most other flowers like sunlight. But where we are, the sunlight intensity is very high, and the temperature is very high, so we have to avoid sunlight for plants because there are many types of plants and flowers, including lilies, that cannot withstand high temperatures and too much sunlight intensity. big. To grow a tree successfully, we need to understand its behavior, temperature, light, water amount… And we cannot apply the same methods if we are in a different region. Different regions have completely different climates. You have to really pay attention to those things.

Above I mentioned many types, which are fragrant tall, fragrant dwarf, non-fragrant tall, non-fragrant short, blah blah… Maybe some of you understand, maybe some don’t, so I’ll explain a little more about it. Those “terms”! Once you understand these terms, you can continue reading the next section.

Oriental: When this word appears in the name of a lily, we should understand that that species is very fragrant

Cutting: Means cutting branches. When this word appears, lilies are tall lilies, because only tall lilies can be used as cut flowers

So, after understanding the terms, we can divide lilies into different types, and when combined, you will understand as follows:

Roselily Editha – A double lily with sweet colors

Previously, wherever the information was about the number of days for lilies to flower, it was only written: 80-110 days, the same for all types and everywhere, but that is not the case. Regarding the number of flowering days, I also want to talk a little about some types as follows, but it is only relative, because each lily code will have a different technical parameter. Same fragrant tall glass, same climatic conditions, but there can be more than 100 days of flowering, some only 70-80 days.

In the South, the weather is hotter so the cups bloom much faster, I won’t be able to write about those in detail. But I also have some conclusions after growing lilies and researching about her: (I only said the corresponding number of days in the North)

There are many, many interesting things we need to discover about this flower, but today’s article I want to stop here. I don’t use flowery words or common spelling to write about this flower. Because everyone knows those things, everyone understands them, just need a keyword and a link. I’m here just to give readers a true and detailed view of this flower, not the “common” things that are found everywhere.